logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
21m 5s

A 4-Track Mind

Wnyc Studios
About this episode
In this short episode that first aired in 2011, a neurologist issues a dare to a ragtime piano player and a famous conductor. When the two men face off in an fMRI machine, the challenge is so unimaginably difficult that one man instantly gives up. But the other achieves a musical feat that ought to be impossible. Reporter Jessica Benko went to Michigan to vi ... Show More
Up next
Apr 24
Forests on Forests
For much of history, tree canopies were pretty much completely ignored by science. It was as if researchers said collectively, "It's just going to be empty up there, and we've got our hands full studying the trees down here! So why bother?" But then around the mid-1980s, a few ec ... Show More
19m 50s
Apr 17
The Resistance of a Cow
There’s something rotten in the cows of Denmark. And Minnesota. And Wisconsin. And Idaho. What could cause a previously thriving herd of majestic dairy cattle to stop drinking water and start drinking … urine? A Danish farmer calls a special investigator, who takes one look at hi ... Show More
51m 3s
Apr 10
The Builders
In an episode first aired back in 2025 on our sister show, Terrestrials, we take you on a musical journey all about beavers. Few mammals have a bigger positive impact on the planet than the beaver. With its bright orange buck teeth, the creature is an expert engineer that brings ... Show More
30 m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
The quantum revolution: Brain waves
<p>Quantum computers aren’t the only form of groundbreaking technology that use quantum physics. Madhumita Murgia hears from Dr. Margot Taylor,&nbsp;neuroscience researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children, who’s using quantum sensors&nbsp;to unpick the mystery of how autism fir ... Show More
22m 13s
Dec 2021
Irrational Fear of Robots; Mozart’s Epilepsy-Reducing Sonata
Robotics researcher Ruth Aylett explains why some people fear robots. Plus: how a sonata can reduce epilepsy seizures.More from Ruth Aylett, professor of computer science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh:Pick up "Living with Robots: What Every Anxious Human Needs to Know": ... Show More
15m 43s
May 2022
Fading into Memories, Music for the Mind, Air Diamonds
Today, you’ll learn about how doctors may have accidentally confirmed that our lives do flash before our eyes just before death, the scientists aiming to legitimize art and music therapy as treatment for mental trauma and how scientists are pulling diamonds out of thin air! ... E ... Show More
14m 47s
Sep 2023
The New Science Behind Tackling Depression
Philip Gold is one of the world's leading researchers of depressive illness. Since 1974, he has worked at the National Institute of Health, where he has served as Chief of Neuroendocrine Research, and Senior Investigator in the National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Resea ... Show More
32m 15s
Oct 2022
BS 201 Brain Development with Bill Harris
tail spinning
1h 8m
May 2022
Prodigies: Hazel Scott
Hazel Scott (1920-1981) was a musical genius who advocated for equal rights in the entertainment industry. She dazzled audiences with her jazz renditions of the likes of Chopin and Bach while bucking racial stereotypes and constraints to become one of the first Black women to hos ... Show More
8m 51s
Jun 2020
What If Your Brain Was Twice Its Size? - Guests: Michio Kaku and Rita Carter
Does size really matter when it comes to our brains? Does a bigger brain mean a smarter person? And how much do we really know about our brains? Michio Kaku, one of the world's most popular science communicators, will join Richard and Peter to help try to answer the big "What IF" ... Show More
46m 40s
Jan 2021
People Respond to Music Even When They Can’t Hear It
Learn about why you can have an emotional reaction to music even when it’s not being played; how people have been performing brain surgery for thousands of years; and why some bathroom light switches are outside the room.People can have emotional reactions to music even when it's ... Show More
12m 2s
Jul 2021
Patricia Churchland, “Philosophy of Brain” (Open Agenda, 2021)
Philosophy of Brain is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland, UC San Diego. Patricia Churchland has done extensive research in the fields of philosophy of neuroscience, philosophy of the mind and neuroethics. Durin ... Show More
1h 37m
Mar 2020
The Art and Science of Listening | Kate Murphy
tail spinning
1h 7m